Strictly Political

 

Arizona Governor VERSUS Arizona Sheriff

An Arizona county sheriff said Saturday that he’s frustrated with Gov. Doug Ducey sending large shipping containers to the border in an effort to construct a makeshift border wall.

With the containers reaching within 6 miles of Santa Cruz County, Sheriff David Hathaway told FOX 10 Phoenix he’ll arrest anyone who tries to place them in the county, which he referred to as "illegal dumping."

"The area where they're placing the containers is entirely on federal land, on national forest land," the sheriff told the station. "It's not state land, it's not private land, and the federal government has said this [is] illegal activity. 

So just the way if I saw somebody doing an assault or a homicide or a vehicle theft on public land within my county, I would charge that person with a crime."

Ducey filed a lawsuit against the federal government in October when he was told to stop double stacking the more than 100 containers in the border wall gaps on federal and tribal lands near Yuma.  READ MORE...

Making An Applie Pie

 

An Artist's Tribute

 

As a tribute to all enslaved people buried in cemeteries in unmarked graves, artist Craig Walsh illuminated trees with faces to honour their souls

Let's Demand Socialism

 Socialism is where the economy is controlled by the government and while it provides for more welfare programs for those who cannot work or those who cannot make enough money to support themselves or their family.  And while that is something that enlightened populations should strive to do for their less fortunate, socialism is totally predicated upon paying taxes.

If a majority of Americans find loopholes in the law and can avoid paying their fair share of taxes, those who embrace socialism will be hurt unless the government either cuts back on other items it funds like the military or it borrows money from foreign countries or it prints up more money.

Printing up more money dilutes the value of the currency being used which causes inflation and borrowing money requires that future generations pay the debt which is somewhat of a ponzi scheme when you think about it.

TAXES are the best way to go if you want socialism for everyone...   so, the wealthy and others must be stopped from using the loopholes in the law to avoid taxes.  This also involves corporations avoiding taxes as well...

However, if coporations are taxes too much they will not invest in the future as their main focus is to pay their shareholders a dividend every 3 months.   Stockholders drive the direction of companies.

There are a few downsides of socialism:

• slow economic growth
• less entrepreneurial activity
• less competition
• less individual motivation to improve

The main two types of governments that have the ability to CONTROL THE WORLD are:

• Capitalism
• Communistic Dictatorship

As far as a communistic dictatorship is concerned we have two great examples:

• China
• Russia

Countries that move in the direction of socialism typically do not have strong militaries and are therefore controlled by capitalistic countries or communist countries.

The other difference that one must seriously take into consideration and that is the fact that only capitalism affords the FREEDOMS that are present in the USA. No other country in the world has the freedoms that Americans have...  especially with our Bill of Rights.

What concerns me is that if the USA moves closer to Socialism will they lose their freedoms which is exactly what the management team at TWITTER did when they censored free speech and only allowed speech that agreed with their political views.

Only the ignorant do not understand the importance of free speech.,

Strictly Political

 

Twitter & Musk

Elon Musk took to Twitter Friday morning to voice his opinion about the prisoner swap President Biden negotiated with Russia for the release of U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner.

On Thursday, Biden announced the U.S. would release Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was sentenced 25 years for providing weapons used to kill Americans, in exchange for Griner. The deal notably excluded American Paul Whelan, an Iraqi war veteran who remains imprisoned in Russia since 2018. The Griner deal also excluded Marc Fogel, a Pennsylvania teacher in Russian custody.

Musk said Friday the U.S. should "never" leave behind one of its own servicemen.

"Never leave a marine behind. Never," Musk tweeted, responding to a user who inquired about his opinion.

The initial user asked: "Does it surprise anyone the Biden regime would leave a Marine behind after they abandoned Americans in Afghanistan?"

Musk’s criticism joined the chorus of Republican lawmakers and others who voiced concern Biden failed to free Whelan.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, took to Twitter demanding an answer from the Biden administration on why he excluded the Iraq war veteran from the deal.

"This was likely not a simple ‘choose him or her’ situation. But if it was, you choose the guy that served our country, Paul Whelan. We should get an explanation from this administration immediately," Crenshaw wrote.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois, echoed: "What about retired marine who has been unjustly detained for years, Paul Whelan? Surely an arms dealer is worth two innocent people?"  READ MORE...

Miniature Pony

 

The American Monster

Half of our country want to eliminate petroleum crude oil (gasoline,diesel, jet fuel) and propane gas IMMEDIATELY...  and move into solar, wind, electric energy consumption.

Half of our country does not want to make this transition IMMEDIATELY.

GLOBAL ISSUE ON GOING GREEN:  

1. Russia, China, India, Parts of Africa and South America have publicly stated that they are not going green until they absolutely have to
2. China owns 80% of the all the minerals needed to construct solar panels and electric batteries (most of which were located in Afghanistan)
3. China has the largest military in the world and growing its nuclear weapons faster than the USA
4. China and India have the two largest populations in the world
5. China and India are building up their economies by not spending money on going green

Because the USA cannot move from gasoline to batteries overnight (or immediately), the need for gasoline will be around for several years.  However, because we closed down our domestic production of petroleum crude oil, we now have to import petroleum crude oil from other countries.  We are negotiating with Venezuela to buy oil from them and experts say that their oil in the dirtiest oil in the entire world, creating more polution in the USA...  whereas our domestic oil is considered to be the cleanest.

My concern is that while we are damaging our economy by trying to go green quickly, the rest of the world, especially our ENEMIES are not following our lead...  they are building their ecnomies the old fashion way and soon their economies will surpass our economy leaving us sitting in our ivory towers wondering why we made the decision that we did.

BTW - we don't have the energy grid in place to go green as fast as half this country wants to move...  that, in and of itself, is incredibly stupid and irresponsible.

All the billionaires know this reality... They are not stupid and yet they are supporting this quick transition...  WHY?

Do they think we can build up everything as we go?

Think about that logic when it came to building the Hoover Dam?     

Classic Sunday Morning Newspaper Cartoons

 

Another Great Depression On Its Way

‘The set-up will be more like 1929’: Cathie Wood just warned of another ‘Great Depression’ if the Fed keeps ignoring these signals — here are 3 safe haven sectors for proven protection

The U.S. Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates aggressively in an effort to bring inflation under control. According to Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood, this could have serious consequences.

In a series of tweets on Saturday, Wood compares the current situation to events that led up to the Great Depression.

“The Fed raised rates in 1929 to squelch financial speculation and then, in 1930, Congress passed Smoot-Hawley, putting 50%+ tariffs on more than 20,000 goods and pushing the global economy into the Great Depression,” Wood says. “If the Fed does not pivot, the set-up will be more like 1929.”

The super investor points out that the U.S. central bank is “ignoring deflationary signals.” At the same time, she warns that the Chips Act “could harm trade perhaps more than we understand.”

Of course, not all assets are created equal. Some — like the three listed below — might be able to perform well even if the Fed doesn’t soften its hawkish stance.

Real estate
It may seem counterintuitive to have real estate on this list. When the Fed raises its benchmark interest rates, mortgage rates tend to go up as well, so shouldn’t that be bad for the real estate market?  READ MORE...

Dumbing Down Education

 In 1966, I entered my first year in college in North Carolina.  As a member of the Freshman class, we were brought into the auditorium for the Dean of Students to talk to us about our future.  His comments stayed in my mind.  "look at the person to your right then look to the person on your left.  Neither one of them will be here at the end of your first year."  It was a statement that most of us did not understand and if we understood the comment, because of our age, we would have not have given a shit.

In 2006 (40 years later) the Dean of Students at that same Freshman class, no longer makes that comment.

What does that mean?

It means that colleges are no longer wanted to flunk people out so that the best of the best are the only ones who survive their first year and ultimately graduate...

Why is this happening?

Colleges and Universities are more interested in generating revenue than they are in graduating only the best, most educated students.

In fact, some colleges and universities are no longer using entrance exams to see if the Freshmann class has the intellectual capacity to be a college student.

We are now pumping out college graduates who are not educated in the hopes of competing with the rest of the world who are well educated and can run circles around American College Graduates.

The unintended consequences of these intellectualized stupidity will show itself in 2030...  a mere seven years away...  

Oh yea...  by then it will be too late to do anything about it.

Welcome to your future, idiot...

Santa Trump

 

Strictly Political

 

A Country in Pain

The 2022 midterm elections conveyed to our political leaders, that while the USA in turmoil, the voting public did not see a viable solution being offered so they kept the status quo...

1. What is the status quo?
2. A Divided Country
3. Increased Inflation
4. Increased illegal immigration
5. Ending Oil/Gas energy
6. Increased Illegal Drugs
7. Increased crime and violence
8. Increased racism

Those of you who are working can see that your wages are now being spent on items that have higher price tags so you money does not buy as much as it used to buy...  like gasoline and food...

What this means is that you either buy less or take money out of your savings accounts or increa

se your debt because you do not want to do without.

More often than not, Americans will make it through these issues but if the economy does not grow, then by the time the next election takes place in 2024, we will have fewer and fewer jobs available while there will be push in the area of robotics not to hire American workers at all.

The other issue that is creeping up on us is the problem with illegal drugs.  As more and more illegal drugs come into this country my first question is:   IS THE SUPPLY INCREASING BECAUSE THE DEMAND IS INCREASING?

If the demand for drugs is increasing that means that Americans are wanting more illegal drugs.  The need for more drugs is because the number of our drug addicts is increasing.  Increasing drug addicts means that will commit more crimes in order to pay for those illegal drugs.

This problem is not seen by most Americans until the crimes for drugs pull in your family or until you are a victim of these crimes.  Then you become one pissed off person...  especially if there is a death involved.

Americans are responsible for the destruction of America and Americans are frigging selfish that they cannot see the big picture, they only see what they want or have or need.  We deserve everything that is happening to us.

Lets have more inflation

Lets have less economic growth

Lets have more drug addicts

Lets have more unemployment

Lets have more robots taking our job

Lets have more national debt

Lets have more control over Americans by the Chinese

Lets have more censorhip of the news

Lets have more censorship of opposing opinions

Lets have MORE SOCIALISM

 

Crossing the River

 

Nigeria's Lekki Deep Sea Port

Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial center, has a storage problem. At the West African trade hub’s shipping terminals, projected demand for container space far outstrips capacity. To narrow the gap, the state has embarked on one of the region’s most ambitious infrastructure projects, Lekki Deep Sea Port.

Construction of the $1.5 billion port, located east of Lagos city, was recently completed, designed to handle the equivalent of 2.7 million 20-foot-long container units a year.

With a 1.2 kilometer quay, the 90-hectare site becomes the largest port in Nigeria, significantly expanding the country’s ability to process imports and exports.

The port arrives at an important time for Nigeria’s economic outlook. According to the African Development Bank Group, the country’s economy is projected to grow at a decelerated rate of 3.2% in 2022-2024, while the oil sector has contracted amid low production and inflation is close to 17%.

Lekki Port is expected to create nearly 170,000 jobs, according to its developers, and generate $360 billion over the next 45 years, per the Ministry of Transportation.

It is located close to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, which is currently under construction, and when completed will be capable of processing 650,000 barrels of oil per day. Both the port and refinery sit inside Lekki Free Zone, a 16,500-hectare free trade area, the masterplan for which also contains a proposed airport, a start-up community, and commercial and residential areas.

The port, the refinery and the trade zone are among the biggest infrastructure projects in the continent. Look through the gallery above to see more of Africa’s most ambitious infrastructure projects.

The Situation in Nigeria

As Africa’s most populous country, largest economy and most notable democracy, Nigeria is a bellwether for the continent. A weakening economy, rising insecurity and violent conflicts threaten progress made in its democratic development. Amid deepening distrust in government and institutions, Nigeria has significant work to do in improving national, state and local security and governance ahead of national and state elections in 2023.

Nigeria’s federal system gives governors great responsibilities in addressing the issues driving the country’s multiple conflicts, including farmer-herder violence, deepening regional divides, armed banditry and the Boko Haram insurgency. USIP brings together state governors, national policymakers and civic leaders to design and implement inclusive policies that mitigate violence and strengthen community-oriented security. 

The Institute engages a variety of influential figures, empowers citizens and uses its expertise and convening power to inform Nigeria policy in the United States, the region and around the world. 

Recent work includes:
Nigeria Working Group on Peacebuilding and Governance

Since 2016, this working group has fostered relationships between citizens, policymakers and national and international figures to ensure that a diverse array of voices impact decision-making processes. These relationships allow the working group to turn expert analysis into tangible, actionable policy advice. For instance, recommendations for addressing the country’s current security and political challenges — informed by a 2021 convening with religious and civic leaders from the National Peace Committee and the Inter-Faith Initiative for Peace — were published in leading Nigerian newspapers. 

In 2021, amid deepening public mistrust, the working group harnessed its collective experience and relationships to advance high-level dialogue between major civic groups working for peace across the country and the Nigerian government. The working group is regularly invited by state and national policymakers to provide recommendations on a range of issues, from inclusive governance and electoral violence to communal conflicts between pastoralists and farming communities.

Network of Nigerian Facilitators (NNF)
The NNF is a group of professional peace mediators trained by USIP to resolve local conflicts through nonviolent means across several states throughout the country. NNF dialogues focus on strengthening community-security sector relationships and mitigating intercommunal, pastoralist-farmer and election-related violence. Since 2019, the NNF has collaborated with state peacebuilding institutions to address conflicts and support local peace processes. In 2021, the NNF helped conduct USIP research to better understand the drivers and dynamics of communal conflicts across Nigeria.

Working with State Governments and Peacebuilding Institutions
USIP helps governors and state peacebuilding institutions to establish inclusive, cooperative strategies that prevent and resolve violent conflicts; ensure that policies focus on citizens’ needs; stem the potential for all forms of violence; and allow communities to play meaningful roles in the transition process.

Strengthening Local Security
Through USIP’s ongoing Justice and Security Dialogue project, citizens at the local level collectively identify security challenges and organize dialogues that bring together internally displaced communities and police in Northeast Nigeria to develop practical and concrete solutions to address security concerns, build trust and foster accountability.  READ MORE...

What is Nigeria Best Know For?

(CNN) — From email scams to oil spills and charlatan Pentecostal preachers, it's clear that Nigeria has something of an image problem.
While the outside world's perception of Africa's most populous country hasn't always been overwhelmingly positive, there's plenty more to this nation than its unsavory associations.

With its vibrant culture, sense of humor and adaptability, Nigeria has become the "Giant of Africa" in more ways than just population size.

In honor of Nigeria's Independence Day on October 1, here are 10 of the many reasons why the destination one in five Africans call home stands out from the rest. You may be inspired to add Nigeria to your travel list:

Traditional weddings
In Nigeria, if you've reached your 30th birthday and are still unhitched, the elders will harass you down the aisle, which is why barely a week goes by without someone staging a traditional wedding ceremony somewhere.

Weddings are a sacred part of cultural life, but also an excuse to show off cuisine, fabulous clothing, music and dance moves in one life-affirming, chromatic bonanza.

With 250-odd ethnic groups, the ceremonies come in a variety of styles, depending on your region.

In the southwest, the groom and his friends might prostrate themselves at the start.

However, in the southeast you'll see them dancing their way into the ceremony, wearing bowler hats and clutching walking canes.

In other regions, the bride and groom's families send each other letters of proposal and acceptance before getting down to dowry negotiations.
Once the serious stuff is done, it's back to music and dancing and, best of all, the tossing of banknotes in the air to make money literally rain down on the newlyweds.

If you haven't experienced a traditional Nigerian wedding, you haven't experienced Nigeria.

Jollof rice
This mouth-watering tomato-based rice dish is a party staple.
There are many ways to cook it, involving endless permutations of meat, spices, chilli, onions and vegetables.

While it's widely accepted that Senegal invented this dish, the concept spread to West African countries.

The most notable are Ghana and Nigeria -- two nations that have vied with one another for supremacy in a never-ending battle known as the jollof wars.

Nigerians are the indisputable champions, of course, serving up "advanced level" jollof that our Ghanaian rivals can only watch and admire.  READ MORE...

What to See in Nigeria

From everyday activities such as eating at a local buka, to specially constructed recreational experiences such as going camping at Idanre Hills, there’s an incredible variety of things to see, do and unravel all around Nigeria. Here are 10 of the best.

Visit Ikogosi Warm Springs
Ikogosi Warm Springs in Ekiti State is one of the most astounding creations of nature in the world. The warm spring flows down a hill, right next to a cold spring, after which they meet at a confluence and continue their journey into a river. Visitors are enchanted with stories about the healing powers that can be accessed by bathing in water from the spring. The fact that both springs’ temperatures flow from the same source remains a cause of wonderment to geologists and tourists alike. Ikogosi Warm Springs are surrounded by dense, beautiful greenery, and there’s also a resort.

Collect Artsy Decor and Souvenirs

Go to Calabar Carnival

Climb the Magical Idanre Hills

Check out Bukas, Snack Stands and Joints

Revel in Art

Enjoy the Resorts

Visit the Museums

Shop at the Traditional Markets

Witness the Creative Arts

READ MORE